Organised by the Surat Municipal Corporation on Wednesday -- World Health Day -- in keeping with the theme chosen by the World Health Organisation, the group discussion at Gandhi Smruti Bhavan saw a greying audience, a rarity at a venue chosen mostly for noisier programmes.

Some wondered whether old age is a problem in India in the first place. Or it is one of those unwanted legacies, inherited from the West. In fact, the discussion began with what constitutes old age. Is it the age at which employees retire or is it only a mental process.

Is it a challenge in that organs don't co-operate and the body becomes a host for many a disease. Or it is an opportunity in that one has all the time in the world to take up with a renewed vigour, hobbies or interests for which one had little time before.

Some admitted that the feeling of being unwanted unmistakably creeps in with every passing day after retirement. There were suggestions though on how to make oneself wanted, and how to earn respect. The generation gap and the concomitant tension it begets among family members also came up for discussion.

The speakers, including Ramprakash Jadhav of Akhil Bharatiya Seva Dal, educationist D Dixit, educationist and litterateur Ratilal Chauhan, eminent physician Dr Girish Kazi, social worker Sudhaben Trivedi, former principal of P T Science College Dr Kusumben Desai and teacher Ranmalbhai Chauhan, however, only came up with the positive side of ageing.

As head of Preventive Social Medicine department of Surat Government Medical College Dr Vikasben Desai, who moderated the discussion put it, there was a seamy side to the issue, too, which did not figure because panelists had a successful life and hailed from a better socio-economic background.

Municipal Commissioner S Jagadeesan, who inaugurated the programme, said if non-government organisations came forward, the civic body and the state government might provide land at concessional rate. He said the Surat body had already established a couple of gardens exclusively for the elderly.

All panelists said they refuse to believe that they are old as they kept themselves busy and active. Some said they were more active than when they were young.

Sudhaben Trivedi felt that old age is the time to rise above one's petty ego. Most aged persons tend to become pesky, which can be avoided. The attempt to glorify one's past and the tendency to run down the present generation and their attitudes should also be avoided.

Dr Kazi said diseases faced by the aged had a lot to do with their early lifestyle and the vices they had. There was a suggestion for the old people to meet ailing patients at various hospitals. No service is greater than comforting patients who have no relatives or acquaintances. Only the elderly can do that skillfully, the audience was told. Teaching grandchildren and sharing work was another way of making oneself wanted, they were told.

``The only unaltered statistics is that out of 100 people who are born 100 die,'' Dr Kazi said, while asking the audience not to worry about something which is certain to happen. ``Why mourn old age? Why be pessimistic?'' Trivedi asked, appealing them to take up what they like most.